“Fracture rates exceed all other
diseases in elderly women in the U.S., with a 2x greater risk than heart
attacks, 5x greater than breast cancer, and 8x
greater than stroke.” That’s astonishing numbers when considering that adapting a
healthier lifestyle can also reduce those numbers as well.

The natural
process of bone decline begins around your 30’s and the only way to prevent it
is to focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as getting enough calcium and
weight bearing exercises. When we age our lifestyle habits seem to lead to less
activity and inadequate nutrition which can lead to a bone loss at a rate of 1%
per year after the age of 40.

Strength
training has shown to provide the mechanical stimuli needed for maintenance and
improvement in bone health. There have been numerous studies that show strength
training can even build bone. Participating in activities that put stress on
the bone can push the bone forming cells to produce stronger more dense bones.

Weight training has extra bone benefits over aerobic training as it targets the bones of the hips, spine, and wrists which are the leading sites of fractures. I should mention it is also important to include some balance work in your training routine to help prevent the falls that lead to these fractures.

It is never
too late to start a weight training program, start slow, start with body weight
movements and work your way safely to externally loading with weights.